A Tale of a Broken Bass
by Youkai-Ishiel
Summary: Accidents happen. Some are more and some are less severe than others. Takes place after a generic school day. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: This is a fanfic. I do not own K-ON!.

* * *

**A Tale of a Broken Bass**

It was quite a usual day. Akiyama Mio and Tainaka Ritsu were walking home from school. They had waved goodbye to Yui, Tsumugi and Azusa at the usual spot and were now walking side by side towards Mio's home. It was a common occurrence for them to visit the other's home after school. They would often spent time at each other's places, doing nothing in particular. Soon they arrived to Mio's house.

"My parents wont be home until later, so we could use the living room" Mio said as she opened the front door.

"Ooh, nice. I call the sofa!" Ritsu answered as she stepped in and Mio closed the door behind them.

Mio led Ritsu to the living room, more out of habit than actual need. Ritsu knew the Akiyama residence as well as her own home.

"I'll go drop my stuff to my room" Mio informed Ritsu, who nodded in response, dropped her school bag on the floor and slumped down on the sofa.

"Is it ok if I put the TV on?" Ritsu asked.

"Yes" Mio said as she disappeared from the room.

Ritsu reached for the remote controller, but to her surprise it was not on the low table in the middle of the circle formed by the sofa, two armchairs and the TV-stand. The remote usually was there, so it was easily reachable no matter were you sitting on the sofa, on the chairs or traditionally on the floor. Ritsu scanned the room and spotted the remote on the TV-stand.

Why would you leave it there? That very much defeats the purpose of having remote controller. She thought as she stood up from the sofa.

As she stood up, Ritsu immediately knew something was wrong. Her foot got entangled to something. That something being the shoulder strap of the bass bag that was leaning agains the sofa. Ritsu lost her balance and fell... right on the bass bag. There was a soft snapping sound. Ritsu got up and immediately knew what had happened. A quick look confirmed her fears. The bass bag had folded into an almost 90 degree angle, the body part was horizontally on the floor and the neck part was pointing almost directly upwards, still leaning against the sofa. There was no chance the bass could be intact inside.

The temperature in the room suddenly felt very hot to Ritsu, her palms were sweating, her heart was beating fast and a lot thoughts were running through her mind:

Instruments are delicate, but still surprisingly durable. The bass shouldn't have snapped that easily. Maybe it already had a small crack to begin with? Why didn't Mio have one of those hard instrument cases instead of a soft bag like this? And why had Mio left her bass in such a dangerous spot?! She usually keeps it in her room. When did she even put it here? No, no, no... She can't blame Mio on this.

Ritsu's thoughts were interrupted by Mio's voice coming from behind her:

"You didn't put the TV on afterall?"

Ritsu quickly spun around. "Mio!" Ritsu exclaimed, in a louder and higher voice than was necessary.

"H-have I lately told you what a good friend you are?" Ritsu asked

"Huh?" Mio answered, wondering her friend's weird behavior.

"Actually, you're such a good friend I'll do your homework for a week!" Ritsu continued

"Mmmm... That's very nice but no thanks. I think it is better if I do them myself" Mio said, thinking about her grades.

"Then... how about I give you nice shoulder massage? Your shoulders look a bit stiff... Or! Let's go watch a movie together this weekend. And let's eat in some nice place afterwards! My treat! And..." Ritsu still continued, speaking a bit too fast.

"Ritsu" Mio interrupted in the commanding voice she occasionally used, usually when Ritsu had done something incredibly stupid.

"Eep" was Ritsu's response

"Ritsu, is something wrong? You're not acting like yourself." Mio continued, this time in soft and concerned voice.

There was a slight pause.

"M-Mio... I think I did something bad" Ritsu said.

Mio blinked and opened her mouth, but didn't have time to say anything as Ritsu continued:

"Please don't hate me for this but..."

"What are you saying? I could never hate you. I... You... You're very important to me." Mio assured her friend.

Ritsu gulped, it was time to come clean. She pointed at the bent bass bag, closed her eyes and said in a weak voice:

"I think I broke Elizabeth. I'm really sorry, please forgive me!" she also added a bow

How would Mio react? Ritsu pondered. Would she cry? Would she get mad? Or just freeze completely? She did have a tendency to turn into a statue now and then...

After a moment of hearing nothing, Ritsu carefully opened her eyes to take a look at Mio. And Mio... Mio laughed. It started as a light chuckle, but soon she was laughing like there was no tomorrow. It is clear even without saying that this left Ritsu very confused. Had Mio snapped like her bass?

From between her laughter, Mio managed to ask:

"Have... you... checked inside the bag?"

What kind of question was that? Can't she see how much it has bent? Ritsu thought.

Anyway, she went to open the bag, hoping to see the bass in easily repairable condition. Perhaps they could use Mugi to get some discount. Ritsu opened the bag and... there was no bass inside. Only a cardboard mockup intended to keep the bag in shape so it would look better in the store.

Ritsu looked at the bass bag, then at Mio who had managed to subdue her laughter and again at the bass bag. Everything was ok. Elizabeth was safe! She felt a wave of relief flush over her.

"That is my new bass bag. It arrived today. I asked mom to leave it here because I wanted to show it to you. Elizabeth is in my room. Didn't I say I'd take my stuff to my room?" Mio explained the situation to the dumbfounded but relieved friend.

Ritsu had thought there were some strange things about the incident. It was clear she had just panicked a little and didn't think completely straight. There should have been a much bigger noice if a real bass had broken. Anyway, all's well that ends well. She thought to herself.

As Ritsu thought about the whole thing over and over again, Mio started giggling.

"What now?" Ritsu asked

"It is just that, the way you acted all shy and meek... You were so cute" Mio said, clearly amused.

Ritsu didn't know how to react. She just blushed and looked away with a pout. This earned a new giggle from her lefthanded friend.

"Aww~ Mio~ stop it!" Ritsu complained.

"Sorry, sorry!" Mio managed to say. After a small pause, she continued: "By the way Ritsu."

"Yes?" Ritsu answered

"I think I have a good movie in mind for the weekend. Also... I think my shoulders are a bit stiff..."

"You remembered those, didn't you?"

"Naturally" Mio said as she started tying up her hair.

With her hair up in a ponytail, Mio sat down on the floor, her back facing the sofa. Ritsu sat down on the sofa, behind Mio and said:

"Let's get started then."


End file.
